PETSMART vs PETCO - Fish Store Review

I prefer to buy my aquarium fish from local fish stores or my fellow fish keepers.
But what about the big chain pet stores and their tropical fish selections? Does Petsmart or Petco have better aquarium fish for your fish tank?
In this video we take two fish store tours to see who has the best fish!
If you like this video, please remember to give it a big thumbs up!!
Also, don't forget to subscribe and hit that little bell so that you're notified about my future videos!
kzbin.info...
God bless ya, Fish Nerds! I'll see ya next time!!

[@josephstalin6702]

They’re both good restaurants

[@TheFishNerd]

🤣🤣🤣

[@silverbuyer]

LMAO 🤣

[@whofarted2025]

😅😂

[@blakecolahan1322]

Lol lmao

[@yaelronald2280]

i know Im kinda off topic but does anybody know a good place to stream newly released movies online ?

[@jakevlogs5770]

"IF YOU'RE A FIRST TIME FISH TANK, STAY AWAY FROM THE AGGRESSIVE FISH BECAUSE THEY'LL EAT EACHOTHER " Oh my, this lady 😓

[@jakevlogs5770]

I also only have a Petco and Incredible Pets (now has multiple stores).

[@TheFishNerd]

Yeah, I raised an eyebrow on that one.

[@anthonyragan2696]

Honestly, I'm surprised they let you film. Most KZbinrs I've seen try these stores get kicked out. Back to your video, the Petco wins this one. Definitely looks more well-managed.

[@TheFishNerd]

That may be part of why the audio was so bad. Lol I didn't exactly ask permission and was worried they'd make me stop.

[@anthonyragan2696]

@@TheFishNerd Agent Fish Nerd goes undercover...

[@Jay-gurl]

Personally where I live I tend to find Petco has the better fish selection and bettas with live plants. Petsmart on the other hand has a great overall variety selection for aquariyms, tanks and decor.

[@philquezzy823]

So hard not to say anything when Petco/Petsmart employees are giving other customers the most insane of advice lol

[@TheFishNerd]

Lol yup

[@Sekhmet1977]

I've gotten a number of nice bettas from my Petco, babies too. I found a lovely blue double tailed female (baby) there once!

[@TheFishNerd]

Awesome! My brother in law has gotten a couple of their bets as well.

[@jeffereyhopkins750]

Petco where I live is miles ahead of my neighborhood Petsmart. I actually bought 5 guppies from Petsmart and only one is still alive.2 gave birth before they passed. All my Petco purchased fish are still with me. I honestly got my best fish from a private fish store.

[@MickyTubbs1985]

PETCO-HANDS -UP and HANDS -DOWN-for fish ! If you're in the market for aquarium "starter tank" set-ups and tanks 38 gallons and above -PETSMART has it over PETCO in terms of types and variety. In regards to equipment-"AMAZON"-NO QUESTION! It goes without saying that my opinion IS in regards to the aforementioned issue of this video, NOT about "DEDICATED"STORES and MERCHANTS who are "THE BACKBONE" of our hobby.

[@TheFishNerd]

Agreed. Hobbyists and the LFS are definitely the backbone

[@angs8068]

The PetSmart’s store in my area has a very small selection it is about half of what yours was.

[@TheFishNerd]

Oh wow, pretty much all the ones around here have the same basic setup as far as their tanks go.

[@angs8068]

If I remember they had about 20 freshwater fish and about 2 turtle tanks. Not sure what the other three were. But they weren’t for fish

[@christinarusev4270]

same!! I really wish my local PetSmart had more options :(

[@carolynnotcaroline3780]

You deserve more subs from how good your vids are there teaching important stuff!

[@TheFishNerd]

Thank you!!

[@midwayexplorerco.4765]

My petsmart in my area is amazing compared to my petco. The selection is amazing and the options are endless. It depends on the area too.

[@MRACTION64]

great video idea brother keep it up!

[@TheFishNerd]

Thanks!!

[@allenkeene4663]

Every petco and petsmart are different one way or the other even when your comparing 2 petcos.its all in the people that are staffing it.Ive gone to LFS and seen dead fish or messy tanks and staff that didn't seem to care.Just use common sense wherever u go

[@TheFishNerd]

This is true, for sure.

[@simplyniggus3943]

Bought something from Petco that was 14.99, final Prices showed it was 21.00, last time I'm ever shopping there...

[@dershwans]

Ummm... your fault for not saying anything. Things like this happen in all businesses.

[@ejfishes7610]

Like you said while the Petsmart had more I was impressed by the appearance of Petcos (not to mention the bettas). It’s not always the quantity but the quality. I personally get most of my fish from my club or LFS. Nice video Carlos!

[@TheFishNerd]

Thanks EJ! Agree 100%

[@camgeary3383]

Wow dude this is the exact video I was looking for

[@saraedwards4375]

Thank you for this video! Very informative:)

[@TheFishNerd]

Thanks for watching!

[@MarioAlvesJr]

It's a toss up in my area. The last fish I bought was a Siamese Algae Eater from Petco (of course it was labeled wrong as a Siamese Flying Fox). It survived quarantine and is ready to go into its permanent home.

[@TheFishNerd]

Awesome!! Hope it does well for you!

[@tedhawk211]

Thank you for doing this video ,either of these stores are 50 miles one way from where I live ,so I don't really shop at either one, I also agree with you about Petco being the better of the two in the video at least as I said thanks for doing the video

[@TheFishNerd]

Thanks Ted!!

[@chrissy24-7]

Your petco is clearly the winner in this video. I was impressed!

[@mcrked]

Worked at a Petco and our Senior Aquatics Specialist gave people advice that sounded wrong enough to get me into the hobby just to make sure I knew what I actually was talking about myself

[@professorrosenstock5026]

My original place shut down this year due to low sales. Yesterday I went to Petco and it was one of my favorite betta fish buying experiences. They were nice to me and even gave me a bag to help him stay warm on the way home.

[@TheFishNerd]

Awesome!!

[@silverbuyer]

I recently got back into the hobby and have 2 PetSmart's and 2 Petco's all within within about 7-17min of the house. The Petco closest to me is 🔥. It's freshwater only and in my opinion has a huge selection of live plants scattered throughout the tanks and a huge variety of fish. They even had flower horns. The manager of the fish dept is amazing, she said if I don't see it, she'll order it. Some of my favorites and some of the more affordable fish they have are Golden Dwarf Barb's, Endlers, Ember Tetra's, Pygmy Corydoras, Cardinal Tetra's, Albino Glowlight Tetra's, Chili Rasbora's, Gold Neon Tetra's, Rummy Nose Tetra's, Galaxy Rasbora's, Emerald Eye Rasbora's, Scarlet Badis, Pea Puffers, Emperor Tetra's, Penguin Tetra's, I could go on and on...they had Cherry Shrimp & Blue Crayfish as well....the other Petco had Saltwater too but none of those freshwater species I mentioned and said they didn't even think I could order them, she even recommended I go to a Local Fish Store LOL...The coolest fish worth mentioning at both the PetSmart's were Orange Von Rio Tetra's and Cobra Endler Guppies.

[@HippieLee96]

Im not sure which Petsmart is, but the one that i go to for my conure stuff in Colerain their filters are never working properly. I prefer an LFS like most of us but when i visit my brother in Bloomington, IN they have an outstanding petco

[@TheFishNerd]

This was tri-county. I think Colerain is usually even worse but they've both gone downhill IMO.

[@HippieLee96]

@@TheFishNerd yeah petsmart is definitely no bueno IMO

[@dominicborrelli6625]

Never been to Petsmart but our Petco has very good quality fish and amazing bettas, compared to the other pet store chain

[@TheFishNerd]

👌🏼

[@asix8226]

Do you still sell shrimp and bristle nose plecos off your website? I cant remember your site but I remember you had one at one point.

[@TheFishNerd]

No, the time involved with shipping was too much.

[@tcarroll311]

I had the same experience at Petsmart, lots of empty tanks and little to choose from .

[@shawnangie1]

Platinum dragon male betta was phenomenal!

[@metalhead9849]

I had an employee at a Petsmart in NH refuse to sell me 6 CPD's for a 15 g. because ' they won't get along and they'll fight and that's too many fish for that size tank,' while she's standing in front of a tank only about 5 gallons larger, w/at least 50 in there. I drove twenty miles round trip for NOTHING! I won't ever go back. I've been trying to find these fish for quite a while and to be told this crap where every website out there displaying these fish have never mentioned anything like that. WTF?

[@MasterBlakeYT]

For where I live, Petco is 100% better for the fish selection, and fish health. But Petsmart definitely has a better tank/ decor/ plants

[@yeetbomb2015]

my closest petsmart, smaller selection but nothing really all too sick is alright i havent been to the closest petco

[@emmynguyen2710]

NO FAIR!!! I usually get fish from a big box store because I live in Canada and there are less local fish stores. Heck, the nearest fish store is this store called Big Al’s, which also has a couple of reptiles. And it also has a couple of marine fish and corals, but it’s all the way to the east of town! So I usually buy fish at PetSmart, because there are no PetCos.

[@anthonybrown8158]

Petco for most part haves healthier fish and better plants.on the other hand petsmarts tins to stock more products lights,food etc

[@TheFishNerd]

That's been my experience

[@BossCoins2]

I have had a bad experience with petco. All of the petcos I went to the fish had ick. I go to a PetSmart and all the fish are healthy. All my fish are from PetSmart, and they are doing very well.

[@moutaintopfish1597]

No fish stores here other than petsmart and no clubs but the fish are usual healthy

[@TheFishNerd]

At least there's that! Would stink to be in a complete fish desert. Lol

[@ivygarcia6878]

In my personal experience, all the Pet Cos I've been to usually have a few dead fish in their tanks. I have never seen that in any of the PetSmarts in my area

[@jeffereyhopkins750]

Just the opposite for me. The Petco has much superior to the Petsmart. I miss the locally own fish stores though. I used to have 3 near me but now have none.

[@KGcichlids]

This is better than my video lol

[@TheFishNerd]

Haha probably not

[@corrinjessen]

This video is nice... but your stores have different things than other peoples stores. For example, the pet smart in taylor near where i live has a much smaller selection of fish than the one in woodhaven (which actually has a lot of different Cichlids and rams). Same chain store, but different variety. Same thing can be said for Petco. Ive also observed that locally owned pet stores (at least the ones near me) actually have less clean tanks (big chain stores have very clean tanks) and i see more dead fish than i would in a chain store. Definitely not saying chain stores are perfect- because they are far from that. Their hamster/gerbil care still has room for immense improvement.

[@TheFishNerd]

Yeah, every store is different, for sure.

[@silverbuyer]

I have 3 Petco's and 3 PetSmart's within 20 minutes. The aquatic department manager at the nearest Petco is a fish nerd and orders in lots of great fish and plants you won't see at other Petco's or Petsmart stores around here and some of the prices can't be beat. I've been to them all and the nearest Petco has had Discus, juvenile flowerhorns ($12.99), Mature flowerhorns ($39.99), Pygmy Corydoras ($1.49), Chili rasboras ($4.99, CPD/Galaxy rasboras ($5.99), figure 8 puffers, pea puffers, Orange von Rio tetras ($1.99), Golden dwarf barbs ($3.49), Scarlet Badis ($5.99), rams, bichirs, and so much more. She's always asking what I'd like to to see and has offered to special order. When I say she's a fish nerd I mean she knows ALL of the scientific names of the fish and plants!!! The other 2 Petco's and petsmarts just have your staples and 5% of the live plants available as my nearest Petco. Petsmarts seem to pretty much just carry the starter fish/staples but seem to have a good selection of cichlids most the time and if you're a fan of dwarf gouramis like me petsmart has them $4.49-$4.99 & Petco and the LFS they're $7.99+. I've also seen petsmart have African leaf fish and Bichir.

[@kaitlynconnolly1363]

My petco has some pretty sucky decorations for the tank. The plants are fine, and they have a nice selection of fish. The tanks are nice, and they have a pretty good selection for the number of gallons. I’m going to petsmart later, so I’ll update! Update: so, I went to to the petsmart. The selection of fish, was incomparable to petsmart. Petco has a better selection. Petsmart had better decorations. The tank selection was pretty much the same. I didn’t see any salt water fish, like petco. Petco had 3 rows of saltwater. The petsmart glofish was honestly under whelming. It had 2 colors, the pink and the blue. Whereas petco had 4 colors and 2 striped ones. The blue, pink, green, yellow. The stripes were green and red. So in tanks, petco won. In decor, petsmart won. But in fish, petco won by a LANDSLIDE. But, that’s all what my petco and petsmart was like.

[@dwayneparsons543]

I have 2 Petsmarts, a Petco and a Local Fish Store within 15 minutes. Petco is the worst here for fish (Best for Tanks) as it is not unusual to whole tanks with dead fish. PetSmart has one store with a larger selection but doesn't have the knowledgeable staff that the other smaller store has. The local fish store is by far the best but I still buy most from fellow hobbyist because the stores never have what I want or the quantities.

[@sapher2020]

The Petco in my area runs their fish department like a modern day concentration camp. I feel bad when I see their filthy tanks

[@jasonschmisek1131]

What state do u live in ? My stores dont hav alot of those fish

[@TheFishNerd]

Ohio

[@jasonschmisek1131]

@@TheFishNerd I live in Oregon

[@rebeccalloyd9938]

Your Petco is so much better than mine. I had never seen guppies almost completely white from stress before. Also their feeder tanks in the connected system were half full of dead goldfish. The local Petsmart is adequate by comparison, a bit better than yours.

[@coltonj4982]

couldn't tell if my left ear was going out half the time or if it was the video lol

[@TheFishNerd]

Lol totally your ears 😆

[@coltonj4982]

@@TheFishNerd 😂

[@mikeywalnuts7015]

In defense of the plexiglass, the system at that Petsmart is probably at least 20 years old. I think they stopped fitting them in 2002. Twenty years of hard water stains and wiping it down with terry cloth towels makes it so even when you clean it, it's still fuzzy and ugly. That PetCo did have a better selection though. Also, if they meet certain sales criteria they are able to customize their selection. There's a PetCo not far from me that will stock arrowana, African butterfly fish, gold ring danios, sparkling gouramis, and even once betta macrostoma. But, just 15 minutes away there's a PetCo that carries only the basic fish and constantly has ich and floaters. With Petsmart you only get what is set by corporate. Our location only has slightly more fish than the one you showed (top tier store) but our tanks are definitely more filled than that unless it's Monday after the weekend and we're waiting for the fish shipment Tuesday morning.

[@TheFishNerd]

That's a good point. This one was built in 2004. And yeah, we have another petco on the other side of town that is even nicer than this one.

[@MasterBlakeYT]

My Petsamrt, their fancy Guppies are actually glass belly Guppies. I thought my guppies from petsmart would get colorful, but no. Edit: I don’t even know if the guppies fro there are guppies Lol. But I see videos of guppies, and mine act much more different, and i would say even a little on the aggressive side

[@aquariumjunkierc4802]

Petco is better for fish and plants and what not but i go to petsmart for crickets

[@alejandraespinosa9030]

Petco's tanks are usually really clean. Petsmart's are dirty. Here in Hesperia, CA

[@NickKlim-rk2sf]

for mine im banned from petco i yelled at the manager for not feeding fish so definetely petsmart

[@NickKlim-rk2sf]

and petsmart cheaper

[@ridingcdaoveritfilms8892]

My local fish store has really nothing to offer so... petco is where I HAVE to go.

[@HectorRodriguez-bz1mv]

A fish club is craazy 😂

[@sumire1298]

Yup prefer petco over petsmart when it comes to fish. Petco keeps up with their maintenance and as for petsmart not so well. However, I do go to petsmart every once in a while to save those poor fish.

[@jazeelmatari8696]

I thought it was Ball-a sharks and Ope-a-line gouramis

[@jazeelmatari8696]

Also I thought it was Bye-Cher

[@beansbullionandcoins9029]

I have zero LFS and a pet smart,pet supplies plus and they all are terrible. White fuzzy fish in the aquariums. Closest LFS is a hour away and it’s worse.

[@TheFishNerd]

Oh man...that stinks big time.

[@kkennyc]

For this area Petco takes the win; I guess it depends on the location

[@TheFishNerd]

I agree, it depends.

[@jmsguitarshop]

PetSmart is the only one in town... That said, the selection is abysmal. No rainbowfish, maybe 6 plecos in the entire store, 10 Bettas, but it's the nearest thing. Petco is over an hour away, but the selection is absurdly opposite to my PetSmart. The center of the Petco location is the fish area, with 5 tall racks in a ring. Plants and feeders are in the center.

[@rebekahfuqua8248]

that was in sept ryan pking not rebkah

[@johncameron4194]

And a puppy

[@salty-as-heck9915]

Petco in my area is better. There's still room for improvement, but so much better fish selection and the fish are healthier than at PetSmart.

[@whofarted2025]

I can't go to petco it's to far so I have to go to pet smart

[@taishafrey5645]

poor betta fish, they're huge and are stuck in these tiny little containers.

[@rebekahfuqua8248]

i see

[@johncameron4194]

Oh a ladder lol

[@johncameron4194]

You should have gotten the cool fish

[@chrissy24-7]

I'm wondering what assorted female bettas wind up being? Lol

[@joshuaatha7207]

The petsmart near me is top-notch compared petco. I've found that petco's fish are not healthy and their tanks are in horrible condition. In addition petsmart has way more selection and better staff than petco.

[@remy_epic]

I think PetCo and Petsmart would have better pets if the employees are responsible.

[@JamieHitt]

So tired of drugstore/department store fish. Outgrew the more pedestrian species at age 8. The local fish stores carry the far more interesting species. You can actually pick out your L260QAP rather than attempt to order some sight unseen nightmare. It’s getting to where you have to order a Pictus these days. Support your local fish stores. The future of the hobby depends on it.

[@TheFishNerd]

Unfortunately, a good lfs isn't something everyone has access to. They're definitely my preference, for sure.

[@miniganguly6072]

🅰️

[@todaysfishingadventure]

Petco normaly has bigger selection of fish. but both stores buy their stock from same supplier. so fish health are the same in both places

[@TEDiouskill]

Pet o is better and take care better

[@dinosaurpro6592]

Petsmart=quality Petco=quantity

[@sharronmiller451]

Petco here is nice. I won’t go to Petsmart it is nasty!!

[@anuraagyarramreddy9328]

no u

[@TheFishNerd]

This Petsmart used to be much better but it's gone so far downhill lately...